Thanks for visiting my JustGiving page. I finished the bike ride on July 24th at 10pm.  It took 8 days through much wind and rain, and the total miles covered was 547, although the odometer says 568. Whatever it is, I'm happy with it. There's a day by day description at the end of this section, if you want to read about it. I've raised my fundraising target to £5000. Thanks to all these people's generosity I've made it, but it's not too late to donate and raise the total even higher. 

I wanted to use the cycle ride to raise money for a charity my family is involved with:  Zambia Orphans of Aids, also known as ZOA.  I lived in Zambia when I was a baby, and we still have links to people in Lusaka, Zambia's capital.  My mum used to take me to visit an orphanage where she sometimes worked, and now that I am old enough, I wanted to try and contribute something to the country which used to be my home.

ZOA supports children in Zambia who have been orphaned by AIDS, by providing support for them to go to school.  This means buying uniforms and books, and sometimes paying fees, because although education is supposed to be free in Zambia, often schools insist on a financial contribution. ZOA also runs feeding programmes in schools for pupils who would not otherwise have a proper meal.  To support an orphan costs £40 a year for infant school, and up to £120 a year  for secondary school, and ZOA supports more than 1200 orphans every year. Thanks to the generosity of the people below I passed my first target of £1200 and my second target of £2400, and now I am over £4000.   The support of the people who have sponsored me means a great deal to me, and means a great deal to ZOA.

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Below is a day by day account of the trip

July 16th Day One completed:  we took the train from London to Edinburgh this morning, and spent this afternoon cycling into 30 mile an hour headwinds - it was so tough we had to pedal downhill.  We made it to our first stop though - Innerleithen.  38 miles down, 462 to go...... Dad says tomorrow is another tough day with hills and wind.  Bring it on. 

July 17th Day Two completed:  Innerleithen to Kielder.  55 miles, lots of hills, finishing off in the pub.  Today was hard.  I've persuaded Dad to stop giving me sports drinks and weird tasting high energy gels when hobnobs have exactly the same effect.   

July 18th Day Three completed.  Kiedler to Alston.  Note from Dad:  55 miles, felt like 100.  Wind in face.  Raining most of the day. National Cycle Route 68 not suitable for road bikes. 6 mile section through forest, hilly and off road. Set off 930 am, arrived 8pm.  Stunning countryside all of the way.  Chocolate biscuits sitting on Hadrian's Wall.  

July 19th Day Four completed. Alston to Grassington, arriving at 10pm tonight.  Shattered.  83 miles today, total so far 231 miles.  Last 30 miles in driving wind and rain.  Stunning countryside.  Dad had a tyre blow out and had to sprint two miles to the nearest bike shop.  Rest day tomorrow. 

July 20th - Tried out some new toe guards and hung out with my cousins.   

July 21st. First day without rain.  Grassington to Firbeck completed via the industrial north of Leeds, Wakefield and Rotherham. 80 miles today, 311 miles in total.  English roads are a lot busier than Scottish ones.  Staying at Grandma's tonight.

July 22nd.   Firbeck to Matlock, 40 miles, so quite a gentle day, even with a few hills and a bit of rain.  Total miles done now 351.  Thanks to Tim and Sarah for a bed tonight and a delicious dinner. 

 July 23rd.  107 miles today, Matlock to King's Sutton. Dad's back wheel buckled - the bicycle repair man says there was too much weight on it.  Perfect day, and perfect summer's evening at Zoe's house.  Home tomorrow.  

July 24th.  Last day, 87 miles, Kings Sutton to London.  Gayfere Street has never looked so good.  Dad's bike is almost finished, in fact Dad is almost finished too.  But we made it.  

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